Spring Break Austria

Spring Break destination - Austria. We left Sarajevo 9PM on Friday night. A relatively short 10 hour drive later, after having driven through Bosnia, Croatia, Slovenia and then Austria, we arrived in Salzburg. We would spend 1 night in Salzburg before continuing to the Austrian Alps for the remainder of the week.
Do-Re-Mi Fountain from the Sound of Music. Somehow Rose sensed that fatigued driver Jim would prefer to explore the city on foot while the girls basked in the "hills are alive" experience.
Von Trapp Residence - about as close as the tourists are allowed to get.

Alma sharing her personality with the dwarf statue from the Do-Re-Mi scene. When we returned to Sarajevo, the girls watched the movie for the first time.

Scenes from the Tirolerhof Kinderhotel in Ehrwald, Austria. So what is a Kinderhotel? - It's a magical place according to Rose, where all your dreams come true. More specifically, they are a kid friendly option in the Alps, meals included, daycare included, indoor swimming pool, kid's play area, ski school right in town, and majestic views. There were about 30 to choose from in Austria, Ehrwald was our choice.

As if the hotel were not enough, we were joined by the elder Tyvand's (Jim and Judy) during our stay at the Tirolerhof.

Alma out for a walk in the village.Fresh snow our first morning. Made for great skiing at Lermoos for Jim. The remainder of the week was sunny and warm.Talin prepping for ski school. She spent 2 days in ski school, first unlearning everything her father had taught her during the winter, then getting command of her wedge (pizza in school lingo) and learning her turns. Alma's version of ski school. We managed 2 sledding runs before Alma found a delicious snowball and decided that an alpine snack was in order.
Zugspitz - Dominating the Ehrwald skyline is the Zugspitz. Gondola is the only option, up and down. There is an observation deck at the top for non-skiers, Jim/Judy took this option. For skiers, another gondola takes you into the bowl.
Gondola that takes skiers into the bowl. Rose at the top of the Zugspitz. Stopped for a quick photo on our way into the bowl.
For the most part, Zugspitz an intermediate skiing experience. However, if one were to follow tracks away from the groomers, plenty of fresh snow and steeps to be found.
View from the observation deck into the skiing bowl.

Perfect day in the Zugspitz made perfecter by dark beer.Jim and Judy on the observation deck.

View from the gondola into the village of Ehrwald.

As if skiing were not enough, the warm temperatures allowed some hiking experiences. Talin is checking out the reindeer.

Team Tyvand
Inexplicably, a Tee Pee along one of the hiking trails.
Scenes from the hotel - Two person swing most often in use just before kid dinner at 6pm.
We swam every day at about 4pm. The girls received two new bathing suits from Nana and Baba (Judy/Jim) for their "ski" vacation.

Once kid dinner was over, the girls shuffled off to daycare while the adults dined sans kids.


A few parting shots. Alma jumping for joy in Ehrwald, and Talin below experiencing her first rainbow ever, in Sarajevo.

Winter To Spring

First snow, October 13. Snow Day (no school), March 10. Unlike the two week winter we experienced in Southern China, the Balkan winter has some bite. During this time we've sledded (thanks to the Stalkers and their steep driveway across the street), introduced the girls to skiing (thanks to Igman, Olympic ski jumping site and home to a great bunny hill) and generally made the most of the white stuff.

Spring, however, may have finally arrived this weekend. Enjoy the photos.
View of the hill just outside our house. Trying to drum up support amongst the locals to build a lift.
Our house, early March. The bag you see is Jim's skis, about 8:30AM on a Saturday. 40 minutes later, on the mountain.Talin and Alma playing with Vera Stalker. Our house is white one partially hidden by tree on the left.

This is where we buy lift tickets at Jahorina. Great thing about the Bosnians, they don't like to get up early to ski. However, at 11AM or so, you can stand in front of this shack for about an hour waiting to buy one. In the background, brand new 6 seat high speed lift. The mountain has 2 of them, both installed this season.
Talin on skis for the first time. Dad was the the instructor. Jury still out as to whether Talin learned anything. Talin has enjoyed skiing this year, biggest challenge is getting Dad and Talin (or Alma) on the rope tow at the same time.
Alma didn't miss out. Alma's favorite part of skiing is when Daddy let's her ski by herself at the bottom of the run.
Rose gearing up on "snow day". Wednesday off of school, so we hit the mountain. Notice all the cars in the lot, it's about 9AM. Believe there were 6 or 7 by middle of the day.
Jim enjoying a pivo (beer) with Melissa after a day of skiing. Stalkers outdoor fireplace/bbq serves as a gathering point, regardless of season.

Bombed out hotel, Jahorina. Jahorina was in Serb controlled territory, and served as a military HQ during the war. Surprising how many bombed structures still visible in Sarajevo and surrounding area.
Yesterday, March 20. Bluebird day! Another great thing about the Bosnians, they like the groomers, never ski off piste. Last snowfall about 7 days ago, and still laying down fresh tracks.
Alma at Igman. Our favorite place to take the girls. While Jim instructs one, Rose sleds with the other. We wrap it up with a lunch of cevapi and french fries, home in time for naps. The still intact ski jumps and larger surrounding mountains provide the backdrop.
Jim and Rose at the Burns' Supper in downtown Sarajevo. In honor of Scottish poet Robert Burns. Never read his stuff. Didn't stop us from attending his bash. If haggis, scotch, meat and dancing are your bag, great event. Expat community was out in full force.

Spring. Talin is a big time tree climber.

Talin and Alma checking out books at school. On Friday, Alma comes to school with us in the morning to return, then check out books. Skirts of every color a theme in the Tyvand household.
Relaxing at the Stalkers, March 20. Jim had spent the earlier part of the day on the mountain, latter part of the day soaking up sun (and pivo).
Rose's sun dance with Heidi.

Spring dress up day!
Sheep. On occasion, the kids chase and herd the flock.
Princess Alma. May the force be with her.

Dubrovnik - You Gotta See This Place

Late in November we took advantage of a long weekend and drove to Dubrovnik, Croatia, about 4 1/2 hours from Sarajevo. We'd seen photos, had the guide book, heard the good word of mouth about the place, but all that didn't seem to prepare us for the amazing sight that is the walled city of Dubrovnik. Naturally, we first witnessed it driving around it on less than a one-lane road looking for a place to park. Amazingly, the parking "dudes" had little patience for a caravan of three cars blocking traffic, asking for directions in English, and generally disrupting the calm, non touristy, non cruise season, late fall Dubrovnik.

Alas, we did find a place to store the autos, and entered the walled city where we would be staying for the next three days. The idea to stay at a small pension inside the city proved a good decision, and we would highly recommend to anyone thinking of a visit.

We spent our first evening dining at a waterside pizza place, looking back over the city as the sun went down. The kids had a plaza to run around, and the adults had copious amounts of red wine to enjoy.

We spent most of our weekend exploring the many plazas, courtyards, alleys, and nooks that make up the walled city. There was a noticeable absence of kids, and guessing that when the six we had engaged in a light-saber battle in one of the squares, a few locals may have noticed.

We'll be back for another look, in the meantime, enjoy the photos.





OUR PIZZA PLACE

Riga - It's Dark Here

In November 2009, the adult version of the Tyvand family attended an AP conference in Riga, Latvia. Highlights included a 5 hour layover in Vienna without children, a hotel with an extensive sauna complex (reminded us of Russian banya experience) in the basement, good restaurants and an evening in downtown Riga.

Given the time of year, the latitude of Latvia, and the fact that we spent our days locked up in meetings, we really only got to see Riga at night. Another way of saying that if you dropped us off there in the daytime we may not recognize the place. Theme of the trip, "Riga, it's dark here".

We spent our first night in the hotel utilizing the extensive sauna system in the basement. One had their choice of sauna rooms based upon temperature. Small pools were available for the inevitable cool down.

Our last evening we explored the historic cobblestone downtown area and celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary.

The daytime picture you see is taken in Jarmala, location of our hotel, approximately 20 km from Riga. Beach resort town, and judging from the photos posted in local restaurants, quite the place to be during the summer months.